Molded heel



Jan. 12, 1943.

H. N. PEARsoN TAL MOLDED HEEL Filled Oct. 10, 1938 Tram/5K Patented Jan. 12, 1943 DIOLDED HEEL Henry N. Pearson, St. Louis, and Henry J. Wiedemeyer and William J. Walsh, St. Louis County, Mo., assignors, by mesne assignments, to L. E.

Sauer Application October 10, 1038, Serial No. 234,20?.

(Cl. .3S-34) 17 Claims.

The present invention relates to a shoe heel and has particular reference to one made of a plastic molded material.

The advantages of a molded heel over the ordinary wooden or leather heel are fairly obvious. However, diiculties have been heretofore so great as to prevent the use of molded heels. These difliculties related primarily to the manner of attaching the heel to the shoe, and to the manner of attaching a tap onto the heel member.

'I'he ordinary plastic is not readily susceptible to nailing. However, practically all shoe manufacturers are equipped With nailing machines, so that the sales resistance to any other type of attachment is almost prohibitively great. Fur.- thermore, the actual costs of previously suggested attachments are generally greater than the present cost of nailing.

'I'he present invention has for an object a shoe heel made of plastic material which can be se- Vcured to a shoe in a manner no more expensive than ordinary nailing.

A further object is to provide a plastic heel that can be nailed in the ordinary nailing machine without any alteration.

A further object is to provide a plastic heel that has a simple attachment for receiving a shoe tap.

A further object is to provide a plastic shoe heel that is hollow so as to provide a degree of resiliency, making it more comfortable to the wearer, and which also involves the use of a minimum of material. In attaining this object, the design likewise attains the objective of providing a plastic shoe heel that may be molded and drawn from the molds.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a top view of a plastic heel;

Fig. 2 is a Vertical section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1 with a section of a part of the shoe;

Fig. 3 is a vertical section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a bottom view of the heel;

Fig. 5 is a side view of a tap for the heel;

Fig. 6 is a rear view of the tap;

Fig 7 is a perspective View of the heel tap;

Fig. 8 is a vertical section of the lower part of the heel along the shoe axis showing the tap in place;

Fig. 9 is a horizontal section through the heel on the line 9-9 of Fig. 8;

Fig. 10 is a side elevation of a modified form of tap; and

Fig. 11 is a plan view of the` tap of Fig. 10.

The heel generally indicated at I2 is preferably CIK formed of some plastic material, such as cellulose acetate. It is not intended to be limited to this particular material, since numerous of the plastics now known on the market can be employed. In fact, certain features of the material are applicable to heels other than plastic, though they find especial Value in combination with the plastic material.

The heel includes an upper seat portion i3 including a front flanged portion I4. A back and side curved wall I5 extends around from the outer edges of a front wall I6. There is also a lower surface I'I to receive the heel tap.

From the heel seat I3 there extends downwardly an opening I8 terminating at the bottom in an angular wall I9 that may be at approxi mately 45 to the lower surface II. From the lower surface there extends upwardly an opening 20 merging with the opening I8 at the front part of the former. The opening 20 terminates at a distance below the heel seat I3 suflcient to permit nails to extend into the wall above it. The opening 20 may be curved to accord with the shape of the heel, as shown in Fig. 4. A third slot-like opening 2| extends downwardly from the heel seat i3 at the back part of the opening 2i." and terminates short of the lower surface I'I to provide a ledge 22. This ledge is slightly undercut, as shown at 23 in Fig. 2.

A large number of openings 24 extend downwardly from the heel seat I3. These openings 24 cover all of the space normally within the area of the nails from the nailing machine, plus an additional area in this Vicinity. As here shown, they are also disposed beyond this area just defined to give both a design effect and also to reduce the amount of material required. Where the material of which the heel is made is translucent or transparent, these holes form a very pleasing design and enough are provided to conceal the more inwardly disposed holes into which the usual nails extend.

It will be observed that the openings i8, 2l, and 24 may be formed by members extending down from the top of the mold. The opening 20 may be formed from a member extending upwardly from the Ibottom of the mold. The undercut 23 may be formed by a slight projection on the member forming the opening 20. Together they form a moldable hollow heel member, the walls of which are thin enough to have resiliency.

A heel tap may consist of a tap portion 30, from the top of which extends a plug 3|. This plug has a front edge 32 extending at an angle at least substantially complementary to the angle of the edge I9. The plug likewise has an overhanging back edge 33 that may fit over the ledge 22, as shown in Fig. 8. The shape of the plug in horizontal section is that of the opening in the bottom surface of the heel. To increase the resiliency of the plug, slits 34 may be provided therein.

The extent of the overhang 33 will vary with the elasticity of the material of which the plug is made. Where relatively soft rubber or the like is used, the overhang will need to be fairly great. However, where the plug is made of less resilient material, the overhang 33 may be decreased in its extent. On some occasions, the plug may be made of material having a very low resiliency. However, the heel material has a certain amount of resiliency. In this case, only a slight overhang is necessary because the low elasticity of the materials will enable the overhang to remain securely in position, even though small. Such an arrangement is shown in copending application Serial No. 189,956, filed February 7, 1938, by the present applicant Pearson. It is some times desirable, as in rubber taps, to make the tap portion of the usual soft rubber, and the plug portion of harder rubber.

The tap in Figs. and ll has a plug 35 formed of sheet metal. It has a central part Ss from opposite sides of which extend prongs lll and di driven into the tap. An angular extension d2 is integral with the front edge, and is adatped to engage over the angular ledge I9 of the heel member. A prong i3 extends upwardly and inwardly from the rear` edge of the plug 33, and thence outwardly and upwardly, to engage over the ledge 22. The top part is turned further upwardly and then inwardly.

This type of plug is inherently resilient, as the extension l2 and prong 53 may yield about the central part 39.

The use of the present heel increases the resiliency of the shoes heretofore noted. It likewise reduces the weight which, in turn, reduces thefatigue on the Iwearer. The relatively thin walls enhance the resiliency and lightness.

For securing the heelto the shoe, it is only necessary to follow the well-known operations involving the conventional nailing machine. There are so many holes, and it will be noted that they have countersunk openings into the heel seat, that even a deflection of the nails in the nailing machine, which inevitably will occur at times, will not affect the capacity of the heel to be attached. If the nail deflects from the usual hole, it will merely strike another hole.

It has been found desirable to use barbednails because these resist removal of the heel. The material is sufficiently resilient to pass the barbs in driving the nails and yet to bind closely about them after they are in place. It has also been found desirable to use hot nails, which seat more readily by action upon the plastic. This expedient, however, is by no means necessary.

The heel tap is inserted in position by iirst engaging the edge 32 on the extension s2 of the plug over the edge l!! of the heel. The back portion is then forced into position. The sloping edge 23 of the ledge 22 assists in this insertion. The resiliency of the plug combined with that of the heel itself permits the overhang to pass over the ledge where it springs out into secure position. It is slightly under compression when in position, and the shape of the edge 32 causes this compression to seat the heel very tightly, since the forces act to drive the plug further into the heel.

In the molding of the heel, various elements are located in the mold, as heretofore described. The heel may be fashioned by the use of hot irons.

In some claims reference is made to nails, but the invention is to cover obvious mechanical equivalents of these familiar fastening means.

What is claimed is:

1. A heel formed of plastic material, said heel having an upper surface adapted to be attached to a shoe, and having a plurality of holes extending down from said upper surface to receive nails, there being a number of holes adjacent the area normally to be penetrated by each nail, whereby there will be a hole available for each nail even though deected from its normal course.

2. A hollow heel member having an upper surface, and a top wall of sufficient thickness to receive nails, and a plurality of holes extending downwardly from said top surface into said top wall over substantially the entire area of said top wall, at least some of which openings are adapted to receive the securing nails.

3. A heel including a heel member, said heel member having a surface adapted to receive nails or the like attaching means, and a plurality of holes formed in the member and extending from the surface toward the interior of the heel member, said holes being arranged so that a plurality are disposed at the location to receive each nail.

4. A hollow shoe heel formed of a resistingly penetrable material, and means therein to receive an attaching member, said means including an element rigidly attached to and extending lfrom a wall and having .at least one opening therein to receive an attaching member to be projected thereinto, said opening being of such size as to guide the attaching member, but small enough to cause the attaching member to be bound by the receiving means.

5. A hollow shoe heel member formed of a resistant but yielding material, means in said member providing openings to receive nails or the like, said openings being of less size than the nails, whereby the nails may be guided into place through yielding of the material, and be held there by the resistance 0f the material.

6. A shoe heel member formed of resistant but yielding material, said member having an attaching surface to receive attaching means such as nails, and said surface having a plurality of openings therein of a number greater than the number of attaching means, said openings being adapted to receive and guide the attaching means, but sized to cause the attaching means to engage in the resistant but yieldable material so as to bind thereinto.

7. A hollow heel member including front, back, and side walls, an opening extending from the top wall downwardly through the bottom, means at the top adjacent the opening having a plurality of openings adapted to receive securing means, the said openings being smaller than the securing means whereby to receive but to bind with the said means.

8. A heel member of molded material resistant to nailing, said heel member having adjacent the top means providing a cluster of nail-receiving openings adapted to receive and guide the nails bindingly into the material of the heel, and said openings being spaced inwardly from the walls of the heel member and providing a cluster of openings covering the area normally covered by a nailing machine.

9. A heel member flaring rearwardly toward the top, having front, back, and side Walls, a hole extending from the top of the heel toward the bottom and adjacent the front wall and, because of the flare, adjacent the back wall at the bottom to provide relatively thin and hence resilient walls, means adjacent the top of the heel and back of said opening having a plurality of guide means adapted to receive attaching nails or the like driven from above the heel, said guide means terminating above the bottom of the heel member.

10. A heel member formed of yieldable but resistant material, said member having front, back, and side walls, and a top and a bottom, openings adjacent the top and the bottom adapted to receive attaching means from the shoe and the heel tap, all of said openings being smaller than the attaching means whereby the attaching means may be inserted by yielding of the material, and bound by its resistance.

11. An article having the configuration of a shoe heel and having within the boundaries of its side walls a plurality of spaced apart guides for heel pins for attaching the heel to a shoe, said guides extending partly but not completely downwardly through the heel, the walls dening said guides being constituted of molded and hardened plastic material which in such state is penetrable by the said heel pins.

l2. An article made of plastic or like material that normally resists penetration, said article having an area designed to receive nails or like penetrating fastening means, the material of said article in said area being penetrated by a plurality of openings to provide relatively thin walls between the openings, and said area thereby being capable of being penetrated by said fastening means.

13. As a new article of manufacture, a chambered molded shoe heel integrally including a body having arcuate rear and side walls, a longitudinally extending breast-wall, and a trans- 'versely disposed seat-forming top wall provided with a plurality of nail-guiding recesses, said breast-wall having at its upper margin a forwardly presented shoe-shank-engaging lip.

14. An article of plastic or like material that normally resists penetration, said article having an area designed to receive nails or like penetrating fastening means, the material of said article in said area being penetrated by a plurality of openings to make said area capable of receiving said fastening means without breaking the article.

l5. As a new article of manufacture, a molded shoe heel having an integral seat-providing wall capable of receiving and engaging with attaching nails, said wall having a plurality of recesses for facilitating nail-engagement.

16. As a new article of manufacture, a chambered molded shoe heel integrally including a body having arcuate rear and side walls, a longitudinally extending breast-wall, and a transversely disposed seat-forming top wall provided with a plurality of nail-guiding recesses.

17. As a new article of manufacture, a molded shoe heel having a, body integrally including arcuate side and rear walls, a longitudinally extending breast-wall, and a seat-forming top wall provided with a plurality of apertures of relatively small diametral size for facilitating nailed attachment to a shoe-body.

HENRY N. PEARSON. HENRY J. WIEDEMEYER. WILLIAM J. WALSH. 

